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Theater Listings for Aug. 14-20

Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope in “An American in Paris.”Credit
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current productions, additional listings, showtimes and ticket information are at nytimes.com/theater. A searchable, critical guide to theater is at nytimes.com/events.

‘Empire Travel Agency’ (previews start on Wednesday; opens on Sept. 10) A theatrical staycation, the latest play from the Woodshed Collective takes four fortunate audience members on an immersive quest to discover “the key to the new golden age of the city,” somehow saving New York from gentrification. The play, written by Jason Gray Platt and directed by Teddy Bergman, begins at a Lower East Side pay phone and impels audiences into the night from there. Undisclosed location, empiretravelagency.com. (Soloski)

‘Informed Consent’ (in previews; opens on Tuesday) In this Primary Stages play, a geneticist (Tina Benko) finds herself caught between a small Native American tribe and the university studying its DNA. The playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer and the director Liesl Tommy explore motherhood, medical ethics and inheritances both genetic and cultural. The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, 646-223-3010, primarystages.org. (Soloski)

‘The Legend of Georgia McBride’ (previews start on Thursday; opens on Sept. 9) The playwright Matthew Lopez has a way of making the marginalized major. His post-Civil War drama, “The Whipping Man,” centered on former slaves who converted to Judaism, and his new show is also about an indigent man in Florida who adopts a new religion — drag. Dave Thomas Brown stars as Casey, a former Elvis impersonator who mans up and drags out in order to support his pregnant bride. Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher Street, West Village, 866-811-4111, mcctheater.org. (Soloski)

‘Love & Money’ (previews start on Saturday; opens on Aug. 24) The final show of A.R. Gurney’s Signature Theater residency finds him in his familiar WASPy enclaves, accompanied by the director Mark Lamos. A rich widow (Maureen Anderman) is making her final will and testament, but maybe it isn’t so final when a young man shows up to contest it. Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Soloski)

‘Mercury Fur’ (in previews; opens on Wednesday) The English playwright Philip Ridley has a lushly macabre sensibility, with monsters everywhere, some fantastical, some ordinary. In this postapocalyptic play, receiving its Off-Broadway premiere from the New Group, two brothers throw some very worrying parties. The director Scott Elliott hosts the festivities. Pershing Square Signature Center, Romulus Linney Courtyard Theater, 480 West 42nd Street, 212-279-4200, thenewgroup.org. (Soloski)

New York International Fringe Festival (performances start on Friday) The artists are coming! The artists are coming! Theatermakers will overrun downtown Manhattan during the 19th incarnation of this annual festival, with 200 shows competing for ticket buyers’ attention. This year’s lineup includes productions like “She-Rantulas from Outer Space in 3-D,” “Serial: The Parody” and “I, Horatio.” Various locations, fringenyc.org. (Soloski)

‘Whorl Inside a Loop’ (in previews; opens on Aug. 27) Sherie Rene Scott is known for her musical comedy flair and pop soprano belt. But she’ll keep the jazz hands and high notes to a minimum as she stars in this show, which she co-wrote with Dick Scanlan, about an actress who volunteers to lead a personal narratives workshop at a maximum-security prison — for less than altruistic reasons. Second Stage Theater, 305 West 43rd Street, Clinton, 212-246-4422, 2st.com. (Soloski)

Broadway

‘Amazing Grace’ The unusual life story of John Newton (a jaunty Josh Young), the Englishman who wrote the lyrics to the titular hymn — he matured from slave trader and scapegrace to fervently religious clergyman — is explored in this earnest but somewhat overstuffed musical with music and lyrics by Christopher Smith and book by Mr. Smith and Arthur Giron (2:30). Nederlander Theater, 208 West 41st Street, 877-250-2929, amazinggracemusical.com. (Charles Isherwood)

★ ‘An American in Paris’ The ballet luminary Christopher Wheeldon makes a triumphant debut as a Broadway director with this rhapsodic stage adaptation of a classic musical with a heavenly Gershwin score. The ballet dancers Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope, as the semi-star-crossed lovers, are radiant, and Max von Essen sings like a dream as an heir who aspires to a nightclub career. Pure joy (2:30). The Palace Theater. 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, 877-250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ Simon Stephens’s adaptation of Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, about an autistic boy’s coming-of-age, is one of the most fully immersive works ever to wallop Broadway. Be prepared to have all your emotional and sensory buttons pushed. Marianne Elliott (“War Horse”) directs the excellent cast, led by Alex Sharp, and the dazzling technical team (2:25). Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, curiousonbroadway.com, 212-239-6200. (Ben Brantley)

‘Finding Neverland’ This musical adaptation of the 2004 biopic about J. M. Barrie, the creator of “Peter Pan,” heightens the film’s tidy psychologizing and life-affirming messages by thickening their syrup and corn quotients. The show brings to mind those supersize sodas sold in movie theaters. It’s mostly empty calories. Diane Paulus directs a cast led by Matthew Morrison and Kelsey Grammer (2:30). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, 877-250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Fun Home’ This extraordinary musical memory play about a girl and her father, adapted by Jeanine Tesori (music) and Lisa Kron (book and lyrics) from Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel, occupies that mysterious place where we all grew up — the shifting landscape governed by those contradictory creatures, our parents. Sam Gold directs a nigh-flawless cast in a show that brings fresh oxygen to Broadway (1:40). Circle in the Square Theater, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, funhomebroadway.com, 212-239-6200. (Brantley)

★ ‘Hamilton’ Yes, it really is that good. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rap-driven portrait of the rise and fall of Alexander Hamilton, directed by Thomas Kail, makes us feel the unstoppable, urgent rhythm of a nation being born. A show that changes the language of the American musical, while offering resounding evidence that this beleaguered genre is not only surviving but also thriving (2:45). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, 877-250-2929, hamiltonbroadway.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Hand to God’ Robert Askins’s black comedy, about a mild Christian boy whose hand puppet may (or may not) be possessed by the Devil, is as outlandishly funny as it is seriously spooky. Steven Boyer gives a bravura performance as the troubled teenager with the evil imp on his arm, and Geneva Carr is moving as his addled, newly widowed mother. The play, previously seen in two Off Broadway runs, has grown even sharper, and more disturbing, in its move uptown to Broadway (2:00). Booth Theater, 222 West 45th Street, 212-239-6200, handtogodbroadway.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘On the Town’ John Rando’s take on this merry mating dance of a musical from 1944, about sailors on shore leave, feels as fresh as first sunlight. With airborne choreography by Joshua Bergasse, the production presents a parallel-universe New York where hectic urban life acquires the grace of a storybook ballet. It’s a bustling, jostling cartoon that floats like a swan (2:35). Lyric Theater, 213 West 42nd Street, 800-982-2787, ticketmaster.com. (Brantley)

‘Something Rotten!’ This rambunctious show, which weds the Elizabethan theater and the brassy Broadway musical, dances dangerously on the line between tireless and tedious. But the large cast, which includes Brian D’Arcy James and Christian Borle, remains as wired as Adderall-popping sophomores during exam week. Casey Nicholaw directed this exhausting frolic from Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, and John O’Farrell (2:20). St. James Theater, 246 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, rottenbroadway.com. (Brantley)

Off Broadway

★ ‘The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey’ In James Lecesne’s enchanting solo show, the friends of a happily flamboyant 14-year-old New Jersey boy turn to the police after he disappears. With great heart and humor, Mr. Lecesne portrays more than a dozen characters in this sweet, sad, Dickensian show that returns to the stage after a run at Dixon Place earlier this year. Westside Theater, 407 West 43rd Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, absolutebrightnessplay.com. (Isherwood)

‘Delirium’s Daughters’ Nicholas Korn’s one-act comedy about four Italian suitors asking for the hands-in-marriage of three young women is mostly just silliness, good-natured and competently executed. The ghost has the best scene (1:10). Clurman Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, triumvirateartists.com. (Anita Gates)

★ ‘The Flick’ Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the beauty and sadness in the lives of three workers in a run-down movie theater has been remounted with the sublime original cast intact, under the deeply focused direction of Sam Gold. Moving, funny, unforgettable, but definitely a polarizing night at the theater, thanks to Ms. Baker’s quietly observational pacing (3:10). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, 212-868-4444, barrowstreettheatre.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘John’ Annie Baker’s new play is a mysterious — and at times mystifying — but ultimately moving drama about a young couple (the wonderful Hong Chau and Christopher Abbott) trying to mend a rift in their relationship while visiting a bed-and-breakfast in Gettysburg, Pa. Georgia Engel plays the motherly proprietor, and Lois Smith her blind best friend. Weird, but kind of wonderful (3:15). Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, 212-244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Isherwood)

‘My Son the Waiter: A Jewish Tragedy’ Brad Zimmerman’s solo show about almost three decades of working in restaurants while not becoming a famous actor, and his Jewish mother’s shame, is low-key, half-familiar, half-mordant and pretty delicious (1:30). Stage 72, 158 West 72nd Street, 212-868-4444, mysonthewaiter.com. (Gates)

‘Odd Birdz’ Oddball characters materialize fully formed in this sketch-comedy show by the clever young Israeli ensemble Tziporela, whose other great strength is physical humor. The show contains some hoary, squirm-inducing bits aimed at the lowest comedic denominator, but much of the rest is funny, and the exuberance of the company — making its American debut — is contagious (1:30). Players Theater, 115 Macdougal Street, Greenwich Village, 866-811-4111, tziporela.com. (Laura Collins-Hughes)

★ ‘Colin Quinn: The New York Story’ Mr. Quinn’s joke-dense monologue is a lovely nostalgic lament for a New York gone by (1:15). (The show will go on hiatus after Sunday’s performance, and is scheduled to return on Oct. 20.) Cherry Lane Theater, 28 Commerce Street, West Village, 866-811-4111, colinquinnthenewyorkstory.com. (Jason Zinoman)

’Ruthless!’ This spiked Shirley Temple of a show, which first opened in 1992 and now returns with less fizz, follows the adventures of Tina Denmark (Tori Murray), a stage-struck prepubescent with occasional homicidal tendencies. But what must have once seemed wildly satirical could practically pass for documentary (1:35). St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, 212-239-6200, ruthlessthemusical.com. (Soloski)

‘Shows for Days’ Douglas Carter Beane’s memory play about a sentimental education in community theater feels unresolved, as if it were trapped between then and now, nostalgic charm and harsh reality. The production, directed by Jerry Zaks and featuring Michael Urie as Mr. Beane’s alter-ego, is blessed with a shrewd, affecting performance from Patti LuPone as a tyrannical hometown diva (2:15). Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street, 212-239-6200, lct.org. (Brantley)

‘Summer Shorts Series A’ Exercises in ethics, and some plain old exercise, mark the first half of this “Summer Shorts” festival from 59E59. Neil LaBute, Vickie Ramirez and Matthew Lopez offer one-act works — about suburban joggers, daytime drinkers and One World Trade widows — that are sometimes compelling, sometimes implausible and all admirably performed (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Soloski)

‘Summer Shorts Series B’ In the second series of the 59E59’s Summer Shorts festival, an adrift Southerner writes letters to Kim Jong-il and a couch potato tries to peel himself away. The highlight is Robert O’Hara’s seamy, steamy “Built,” a treacherous thriller about a sexual encounter between a middle-aged professional woman (Merritt Janson) and a younger male hustler (Justin Bernegger) (1:30). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Soloski)

★ ‘39 Steps’ This century’s most tireless and high-profile example of the little show that could, adapted from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 movie and seen on Broadway in 2008, returns for yet another antic struggle with bad guys with bad accents. Directed by Maria Aitken, with a cast of four playing too many roles to count, this paradigm of bare-bones theater remains indomitably funny (1:40). Union Square Theater, 100 East 17th Street, 877-250-2929, 39stepsny.com. (Brantley)

‘Threesome’ In Yussef El Guindi’s dark sex comedy, sex takes a back seat as a couple of Arab descent (the fine Alia Attallah and Karan Oberoi) invite a guest, played with winning anxious humor by Quinn Franzen, to join them in bed. What follows is more a debate about gender politics than a bedroom farce (2:00). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Weir’ Ciaran O’Reilly’s production of one of Conor McPherson’s finest plays, about a handful of lonely or troubled Irish men and women swapping tales of the supernatural, features a flawless cast that brings its gentle beauty alive with no fuss (1:30). DR2 Theater, 103 East 15th Street, 212-727-2737, irishrep.org. (Isherwood)

Off Off Broadway

‘Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic’ The death by poison of Olive Thomas, the “Ziegfeld Follies” beauty, is at the center of this diffuse, immersive show created by Cynthia von Buhler (“The Bloody Beginning”). The cast is talented, the costumes are glittery, and aerialists dangle from above, but the performance feels less like a theater piece than like an imitation 1920s cabaret show with a thematically related art installation taking place around it (2:45). Liberty Theater, behind the Liberty Diner, 234 West 42nd Street, 866-811-4111, speakeasydollhouse.com. (Collins-Hughes) Long-Running Shows

‘Aladdin’ The Disney movie refashioned for the stage, with shtick, sparkles and silliness cutting the syrup (2:20). New Amsterdam Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, 866-870-2717, aladdinthemusical.com.

‘The Bullpen’ Joe Assadourian, who served 12 years in prison for attempted murder, wrote and stars in this very funny one-man show about the characters he met while awaiting his trial (1:05). Playroom Theater, 151 West 46th Street, Manhattan, 212-967-8278, stepinthebullpen.com.

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Who was that masked man anyway (2:30)? Majestic Theater, 247 West 44th Street, 212-239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘Queen of the Night’ An ultra-lavish immersive theater piece with cocktails, a meal and a circus-style show (2:45). Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel, 235 West 46th Street, 866-811-4111, queenofthenightnyc.com.

‘Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man’ Part bachelorette party at Chippendales, part embarrassing midnight show in Pigalle (1:20). Fridays and Saturdays at 777 Theater, 777 Eighth Avenue, at 47th Street, 888-841-4111, sextipsplay.com.

★ ‘Antigona’ (closes on Saturday) Pairing flamenco with ancient Greek tragedy is the kind of idea that makes the brow furrow. But in Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca’s dark and explosive dance drama, adapted from Sophocles’ “Antigone,” the odd-couple match makes an “Aha!” kind of sense. Choreographed by Ms. Barrio, who plays the title role with arresting intensity, this is a union of two fierce and stylized forms (1:30). West Park Presbyterian Church, 165 West 86th Street, 866-811-4111, nocheflamenca.com.

(Collins-Hughes)

‘The Dreamer Examines His Pillow’ (closes on Saturday) John Patrick Shanley’s early work about two young lovers with a penchant for arguing in florid prose gets a revival by the Attic Theater Company. The play features two uneven performances and one very fine one from Dennis Parlato as the father of the female half of the couple. Mr. Parlato contributes just the right melancholy advice to set up a delightful final scene in which this wordy work is revealed to be a play about overcoming the fear of commitment (1:30). Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, 866-811-411, theflea.org. (Neil Genzlinger)

‘Penn & Teller on Broadway’ (closes on Sunday) Despite being in a cavernous theater, this entertaining populist exercise in hocus-pocus feels as intimate as a sidewalk game of three-card monte. Though they have worked together for four decades, Penn and Teller are looking very of-the-moment in this age of skepticism, as they remind us that their astonishing magic act is as bogus as it is irresistible (1:30). Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway, at 45th Street, 877-250-2929, pennandtelleronbroadway.com. (Brantley)

‘Pimm’s Mission’ (closes on Sunday) After a deadly explosion rocks a corporate headquarters, the F.B.I. questions Robert Pimm (Mac Brydon), a businessman who was outside the building when the blast went off. This one-act drama toggles between that interrogation and flashbacks of a friendship that may have had something to do with the bombing. While Terrence O’Brien directs at a nice pace, a mystery should mystify; here the plot twists are visible from a long way off (1:20). 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, 212-279-4200, 59e59.org. (Daniel M. Gold)

★ ‘Significant Other’ (closes on Sunday) Joshua Harmon’s absolutely wonderful new play — his follow to “Bad Jews” — stars Gideon Glick as a gay man in his 20s looking for love, and finding his best girlfriends slipping away into matrimony. As richly funny as it is ultimately heart-wrenching, the play makes for perfect summer entertainment: light on the palate but leaving a memorable afterglow (2:15). Laura Pels Theater, 111 West 46th Street, 212-719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Isherwood)

‘Three Days to See’ (closes on Sunday) Transport Group’s often moving, sometimes sudsy play draws from Helen Keller’s writing and speeches, as played by seven performers. There are bathetic moments and dull ones, but also a deft interweaving of lighter fare and more serious matter, working to reveal the workings of Miss Keller’s agile, sensitive mind (1:30). Theater 79, New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, 866-811-4111, transportgroup.org. (Soloski)

A version of this schedule appears in print on August 14, 2015, on Page C15 of the New York edition with the headline: The Listings: Theater. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe